Development and application of an agent‐based model for the simulation of the extravasation process of circulating tumor cells

• Published in: International journal for numerical methods in biomedical engineering 2023-04, Vol.39 (4), p.e3679-n/a
• Main Authors: Schneider, Kay M., Giehl, Klaudia, Baeurle, Stephan A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agent-based models; agent‐based model; Blood circulation; Blood Platelets - pathology; Cancer; circulating tumor cells; Computer applications; Computer Simulation; computer simulation of platelet‐assisted extravasation; Embedding; Extravasation; Humans; Mathematical models; Metastases; metastasis; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating - pathology; Platelets; Precision medicine; Prognosis; Simulation; Tumor cells; Tumors
• ISSN: 2040-7939; 2040-7947
• DOI: 10.1002/cnm.3679

The primary cause for cancer‐related death is metastasis, and although this phenomenon is the hallmark of cancer, it remains poorly understood. Since studies on the underlying mechanisms are still demanding by experimental means prognostic tools based on computer models can be of great value, not only for elucidating metastasis formation but also for assessing the prospective benefits as well as risks of a therapy for patients with advanced cancer. Here, we present an agent‐based model (ABM), describing the complete process of platelet‐assisted extravasation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from the chemoattraction of blood platelets by the CTCs up to the embedding of the CTCs in the epithelial tissue by computational means. From the simulation results, we conclude that the ABM produces results in consistency with experimental observations, which opens new perspectives for the development of computer models for predicting the efficacity of drug‐based tumor therapies and assisting precision medicine approaches. A new agent‐based model for simulating the complete process of platelet‐assisted extravasation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is developed, consisting of four different simulation phases (Phase I‐IV). The process begins with the chemoattraction of blood platelets by the CTC and ends with the embedding of the CTC in the epithelial tissue. The simulation results of the model are shown to be in agreement with experimental observations.